<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/donald-trump" rel="" target="" title="Donald Trump"><span>Donald Trump</span></a><span> has unveiled a fresh round of </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/tariffs" rel="" target="" title="tariffs"><span>tariffs</span></a><span>, including a "baseline" 10 per cent duty on all </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/australia" rel="" target="" title="Australian"><span>Australian</span></a><span> goods.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US president claims the measures are "reciprocal", with a chart unveiled by the White House saying Australia charges 10 per cent tariffs on American goods even though there's a free trade agreement between the two countries.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>So what is Trump actually retaliating against? This is what you need to know.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/donald-trump-tariffs-norfolk-island-australia-export-tariffs-stock-market-finance-news/be1d5184-f7a2-492b-a6e0-77f10b02665d"><strong><span>No explanation why Norfolk Island's tariffs are nearly triple the rest of Australia's</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Does Australia impose tariffs on US goods?</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>No.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Despite what Trump's chart might have you believe, Australia doesn't impose any tariffs on imports from the US due to a free trade agreement signed between the two countries in 2005.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/donald-trump-tariffs-reciprocal-measures-what-are-they-retaliating-against-explained/c90a020c-70d4-47fa-8a42-f8954665783b" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made this point after Trump's announcement.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"President Trump referred to reciprocal tariffs. A reciprocal tariff would be zero - not 10 per cent," he said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Indeed, the current Australian government has generally been opposed to import duties; it removed the best part of 500 so-called "nuisance" tariffs last July, and didn't impose retaliatory measures to Trump's taxes on steel and aluminium earlier this year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-liberation-day-tariffs-update-australian-beef-exports-singled-out/ede43fa9-35ca-488b-b465-f93c25a1f879"><strong><span>The unsettling reason Australia refuses to buy American beef</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>What is Trump retaliating against then?</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There's a bit of telling fine print in Trump's chart. Under "Tariffs charged to the USA", it adds "Including currency manipulation and trade barriers".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The framing is problematic – they are reciprocal in the face of perceived 'unfairness' to the US rather than specific economic harms," Monash Business School's Dr Nicola Charwat said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It appears that Trump or the United States can redefine any trade policy difference as unfairness and reach for tariffs. This gives rise to a high level of uncertainty."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It's a bit of an arbitrary calculation, but the "currency manipulation and trade barriers" is how the White House has come up with its 10 per cent figure for Australia.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The main trade barrier it's referring to in Australia's case is the strict biosecurity controls preventing the import of raw beef from many countries – of which the US is just one.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/donald-trump-liberation-day-anthony-albanese-responds-to-tariffs/bc61d499-8a36-4dbb-b9cf-90f2fc118bd5"><strong><span>'Not the act of a friend': Prime Minister condemns Trump tariffs</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This was singled out by Trump in his announcement.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Australia bans – and they're wonderful people, and wonderful everything – but they ban American beef," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Yet we imported $US3 billion of Australian beef from them just last year alone.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They won't take any of our beef.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They don't want it because they don't want it to affect their farmers and you know, I don't blame them but we're doing the same thing right now starting at midnight tonight, I would say."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Australia does accept raw beef from some countries, like Japan, and </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-liberation-day-tariffs-update-australian-beef-exports-singled-out/ede43fa9-35ca-488b-b465-f93c25a1f879" rel="" target="" title="US imports were only banned in 2003"><span>US imports were only banned in 2003</span></a><span> due to concerns about the deadly and incurable Mad Cow Disease in American cattle.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/tesla-stocks-sales-drop-13-per-cent-in-first-quarter-as-elon-musk-backlash-ageing-models-hurt-demand/b195f4bd-4d37-4eac-ab83-c760ffedd60e"><strong><span>'Disaster on every metric': Tesla sales tumble amid Musk backlash</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In a report released earlier this week by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) – which has since been removed from the USTR's website – several other trade issues with Australia were noted.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>These included similar bans on importing uncooked pork and poultry, as well as apples and pears, the news bargaining code made mandatory last year, and Australia's pharmaceutical industry.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>US pharmaceutical companies have long taken issue with Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, however it appears pharmaceutical products have been exempted from today's new tariffs.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/federal-election-donkey-voting-what-is-it-explained/beaa248f-0b1a-4240-a266-e72155467053"><strong><span>Even the AEC doesn't know how many 'donkey votes' are cast at the polls</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Are other countries in the same boat?</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Australia is far from the only country to be hit by "reciprocal" tariffs far higher than what it poses on the US.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>New Zealand has also taken issue with Trump's logic.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trade Minister Todd McClay rejected the 20 per cent figure on the chart about the tariffs New Zealand imposes and said he had asked his country's officials to clarify it.</span></div></div><div class="styles__Wrapper-sc-2o34ro-0 cmwkBV"><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><a href="/content/2025/04/03/09/20/the-full-list-of-trumps-reciprocal-tariffs"><img alt="US President Donald Trump today announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs for dozens of nations in a &amp;quot;Liberation Day&amp;quot; speech at the White House." sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 636px, (min-width: 768px) 396px, 100vw" src="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/fJmcm8MqaRXpidBWPXCQ-OF3i9E=/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2Ff4adaefd-6caf-46d7-899f-f151e3f9bb68" srcset="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/fJmcm8MqaRXpidBWPXCQ-OF3i9E=/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2Ff4adaefd-6caf-46d7-899f-f151e3f9bb68 396w, https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/x8yQRuzP2g-htvXY9q9j40uqzR8=/636x358/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2Ff4adaefd-6caf-46d7-899f-f151e3f9bb68 636w"/></a></div><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><div class="styles__Headline-sc-2o34ro-4 hpbOlz">The full list of Trump's 'reciprocal' tariffs</div><div class="styles__Button-sc-2o34ro-1 eBjlmW"><a class="styles__ButtonLink-sc-2o34ro-2 hqpklJ" href="/content/2025/04/03/09/20/the-full-list-of-trumps-reciprocal-tariffs">View Gallery</a></div></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We don't have a 20 per cent tariff rate," he said, adding that New Zealand was "a very low tariff regime" and the correct figure was below the 10 per cent baseline rate applied to all countries.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As another example, Israel, which is listed at 33 per cent on the White House chart, announced it was cancelling all remaining tariffs on the US earlier this week.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Switzerland also made its case to Trump earlier late last month, with Economic Affairs Minister Guy Parmelin saying "we have abolished industrial tariffs".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/donald-trump-tariffs-anthony-albanese-doesnt-rule-out-australia-world-trade-organisation-case/0d6754b8-dca2-492f-a477-2bf8fb2cab22"><strong><span>PM doesn't rule out taking US to WTO over 'Liberation Day' tariffs</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"That means almost 99 per cent of goods from the US that come to Switzerland do so without customs duties. Probably other countries don't have that."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The White House, though, claimed Switzerland imposes 61 per cent tariffs on US goods, and slapped a 31 per cent rate on it in return. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><span>– With Associated Press</span></em><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><strong><span>Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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